


Freedom Over Conformity

by queermoraghid (TheDoctorIsIcecube)



Series: Meant to Be [3]
Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Coming Out, F/F, Fluff, Homophobia, Royal Politics, Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-28
Updated: 2018-07-05
Packaged: 2019-05-29 21:11:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15081806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDoctorIsIcecube/pseuds/queermoraghid
Summary: While Tantal makes progresses in accepting everyone with soulmates, Mòrag worries over how she still needs to hide her own relationship with her soulmate and decides to make a change, consequences be damned.





	1. Hiding

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all :) this is the third part of this series of at least five planned parts (fourth part is a wip). Reading the other two parts is probably helpful but not necessary for understanding it if you just wanna get to the lesbeans.

“It must be nice to live in Tantal these days,” Brighid commented, sitting down on the sofa next to where Mòrag had been reading a book. Mòrag, of course, knew exactly what Brighid was referring to. Who couldn’t, considering their situation?

“Are you suggesting we elope?” Mòrag asked, knowing that Brighid wasn’t suggesting that at all. She still sort of wanted it, even if it was a foolish suggestion she would never be able to follow up on.

“Not unless we wanted to cause a national scandal, which I doubt you do. Still… These Jin and Malos people had the right idea. Make enough of a fuss, and the laws get changed.” Brighid rested her head on Mòrag’s shoulder. “Besides, are you telling me you’ve never considered eloping?”

“Frequently,” Mòrag said with a sigh. “But we can’t. I couldn’t do that to Niall, for one. I’m happy with it being just us, honestly, but...it would be nice to be like them. To be able to kiss in front of a crowd and not worry about a whole world out there that would instantly remove you from your position.”

“Mm… Hey, your cousin is a nice enough kid. Keep being a good influence on him, and maybe when he turns eighteen the first thing he pushes through the courts can be recognition of same-sex soulmates.” Brighid turned her wrist over, pushing her bracelets up to reveal the words ‘Nice to meet you, Lady Brighid’ in a flowing script. “It would be nice not to have to cover this up all the time.”

Mòrag glanced over to where her own mark, ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you too, Lady Mòrag’, was hidden under her sleeve. There wasn’t a day that went by when she didn't stare at that mark, wondering if one day it would be safe for someone else to see it. That mark had been covered up since before Niall had even been born. “But he doesn’t even know,” she said sadly. Niall was lovely, but he couldn’t do something about issues he didn't understand yet.

“You could tell him,” Brighid suggested gently. “You know him better than anyone, possibly better than he knows himself. He’s a kid, and although he’s certainly mature for his age, he’s still impressionable. If you explain to him that we’re soulmates, you know he wouldn’t mind that much.”

“I don’t want to be accused of leading him on,” she said. She had a position of responsibility over her fifteen year old cousin. She was meant to protect him and help him and she would be incredibly annoyed if anyone else in the palace led him on for their own gain. She could not do the same, even if it was for a good cause.

“You’re not pushing any particular agenda on him, though. You’re just telling him a fact about yourself and seeing what he makes of it. Also, you’re the person he loves most in this world, you can hardly be accused of corruption. It would only be bad if you somehow blackmailed him into letting us get married.” Brighid, as usual, was very much the voice of reason.

“I’ll say something if it comes up,” she promised. She knew she shouldn’t really be afraid. Niall was an amazing and morally upstanding young man, but this involved a lot of fear about her position, and therefore her country’s position. Taking a risk here could mean her losing her place at Niall’s side, or if it all went public they could lose the support of Indol and it could destabilise everything. 

“Hmm. It hasn’t come up in fifteen years, so perhaps you need to put a little more effort in.” Brighid nudged her gently. “Now seems like a perfect time, in fact, since there’s been all this fuss going on in Tantal. Just bring it up casually when you next discuss the news, and see what happens from there.” 

“I can’t casually bring up the topic of the fact that you’re my soulmate,” Mòrag said. “We’ve been attached at the hip for years. Over a decade, even. He’d just probably feel it was- I don’t know.”

“I’d say that the moment you tell him, it will suddenly occur to him that it was obvious all along,” Brighid said. “Us as a pair is natural to him; us as soulmates is barely any different.”

“Fair. Ugh… It’s just a little scary, you know? Not knowing what he might say…” Mòrag shrugged. “But you’re right, he’s a good kid. I’ll tell him, I promise. For you.” That was a scary promise to make, but it was one that she knew she would keep.

“Thank you,” Brighid said. “But make sure you’re doing it for you, too. This is a thing for both of us, but it’s you who’s putting yourself at risk, even if I maintain that the risk is small. Your happiness is my highest priority. If you’d rather keep this to yourself, please do.”

“No, don’t try and talk me out of this again.” Mòrag laughed. “I’ll do this, I will. I promised, and I know it’s what I need to do. Especially if this leads to us getting legal recognition eventually. That’s...pretty much what I want most for us.” 

“I understand,” Brighid said, leaning over to put her head on Mòrag’s shoulder. “We’re going to be fine, you know. I know that Tantal isn’t Mor Ardain, and we have a whole group of old people in the council hating our very existence, but I feel like the tide of opinion is changing.”

“True. I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see.” Mòrag pulled Brighid into a kiss, letting it linger for a few seconds. That helped clear her head a little, and she pulled away with a smile. “You know, you always know just the right thing to say.” 

“It’s almost as if I’m destined to know you better than anyone else,” Brighid said, pulling Mòrag in for a second kiss. Relaxing, Mòrag let Brighid run her fingers through her hair, gently untying it and letting it fall to rest on her shoulders. “This will be fine, Mòrag. We can be happy together regardless of what happens with this, remember. This will just make it all so much easier.”

“Mhm. I know. I’ve always been happy with you, since we were- what, five years old?” Mòrag smiled, remembering the first time they’d met. Both in silly puffy dresses, hers blue and Brighid’s purple, left alone in a locked room to entertain themselves whilst their parents got on with the business of court. It had been exciting, finding out that the marks on their wrists matched, but even then, there had been a sense of it being something to keep between themselves.

They hadn’t known why, back then, though they’d both agreed to keep it a secret. Their parents must have known, of course, but Mòrag’s were gone in a flash and Brighid’s had never said a word about it. Maybe they’d hoped Brighid would never think of it, if they never told her, or maybe they’d just ignored it and hoped for the best without thinking of the consequences.

And now, more than fifteen years later, here they both were. As soon as the concept of soulmates had been properly explained to her by a tutor, Mòrag had rushed to tell Brighid. They’d shared an awkward, short first kiss aged eleven, both blushing for at least a good ten minutes afterwards. Ever since then, they’d only gotten closer, so that they were practically inseparable now.

Things had changed a lot since then. More recent pressures had actually made their relationship legal, but they couldn’t get legally married and there was still a whole host of prejudices. It would be perfectly reasonable for the council to demand she gave up her position if they found out about Brighid and her. And that was what she was most worried about, because she needed to be around Niall to protect him.

But there was no fire without a spark, and if she ever wanted things to change, Mòrag knew she had to make some sort of a move. So, she would go and tell Niall about her and Brighid, and she would take whatever consequences that brought with it. If they ended up having to flee the country, then, well, at least she knew that Tantal would accept them.


	2. Discussion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mòrag tries to talk to Niall about news in Tantal.

“And how about news from Tantal?” Mòrag asked. It was normal for her and Niall, on a Saturday morning, to eat breakfast together and discuss the news of the week from each country, without the supervision of any guards or chaperones. Mostly so Niall could have non-diplomacy mandated opinions on things that were going on in the world.

“An interesting development,” he said. “I don’t know if there’s any demand for that here. Our country’s ties with Indol are very different to Tantal’s. I think it could happen, but I don’t know if anyone would actually want it.”

“Oh, I think there’s plenty who would want it,” Mòrag said. She paused for long enough to eat a spoonful of porridge, taking a little longer than usual to chew the sweetened oats. “Tell me- what do you think about it, personally? Do you support...people like that, or…?” She left the question open-ended, casting a curious gaze in Niall’s direction.

“I see no reason not to,” he said with a shrug. “It’s legal for them to have their relationships. I don’t see why they should be lesser citizens in any way. But maybe that’s me looking at it from a cynical angle. I’m...not sure how far I would be able to take it without losing the foreign aid from Indol that we rather need. I support them, but the people who support us do not.”

“I see.” Mòrag considered how exactly she was going to word her next statement. “Were you aware that the Lady Brighid and I are soulmates, Niall?” She left it at that, not attaching any demands or other questions to it. Let Niall form his own opinions, and simply hope that they were the ones she approved of.

“I was...not aware, but it certainly makes sense,” Niall said. “I hope you can be happy with her, and I understand that- this might have been a hard thing to say. I won’t mention it to anyone else. But you know I can’t promise to act on it either. We would have to have public demand for it.”

“But if there was public demand, you would be in favour of reforming the laws?” Niall nodded. “Good. That’s what I hoped to hear.” She got up from her seat, crossing to Niall’s side of the table and resting a hand on his shoulder. “You’re the first person I’ve told about our relationship, by the way. I would appreciate it if this wasn’t spread around, although I’m sure you would never do such a thing.”

“I did just say I wouldn’t, sister,” he said with a smile. “Try not to worry about it for now. Please, be happy with Brighid, and what can be done will be done.” He reached up and touched the hand on his shoulder.

“Thank you,” she said. This meant a lot more to her than she’d expected it to. Niall, the one person who was most important to her other than Brighid, could accept their relationship for what it truly was. “You might not biologically be my brother, but that’s definitely what you feel like to me. It’s wonderful, being able to trust you with anything.” Niall smiled a little sheepishly at that. Mòrag got the sense that she was embarrassing him slightly, but she didn't really care. “You’d tell me if you found your soulmate, right? No matter what gender they happened to be?”

“I would,” he said. “I don’t know if I’ll be finding them for a while, though. My mark is...very specific. It’s not generic, so I don’t have to worry about that, but it’s not an introduction either. I know nothing about them at all.” It was general Ardainian practise that you didn't tell anyone what your soulmate mark was until you met your soulmate; it was meant to be about good luck and all that. Niall’s was on his upper arm, and Mòrag had never seen him without an armband or a long sleeve to cover it, even on the hottest days of summer. 

“Ah… I suppose since you know about Brighid and I now, I can show you my mark.” She rolled up her sleeve, showing Niall the words marked on her wrist. “You can’t get much more generic than this, hmm? But it worked out just fine for the two of us.”

“It seems like it did,” he said. “I hope it works out well for me. I know it’s meant to, and it should, but I can’t help but worry. You know how I am.”

“Yes, I know,” Mòrag said with a fond smile. “You worry about everything. You wouldn’t be Niall if you didn't.”

“I suppose.” He gave her a wry smile in return. “Thank you for trusting me with who your soulmate is. Being who I am, it’s hard to find anyone who can just have a genuine conversation with me. You, though, I never have to worry that you’re trying to manipulate me.”

“I did worry that it would seem that way,” she said. There was no point beating around the bush with Niall; he either already knew or he deserved to know when it came to pretty much everything. “Because it’s a fairly personal request. Using my position for my own benefit, and all.”

“Don’t worry,” Niall said. “It had crossed my mind to look into it beforehand. Even if only a minority have to face these problems, I would like to improve the lives of that minority anyway.”

“You’re the most selfless world leader I’ve ever met, you know, and I’ve met with the leaders of just about every country in Alrest.” Mòrag finally pulled away from Niall, crossing back over to her own seat to finish her breakfast. “Mor Ardain is lucky to have you at its head.”

“You flatter me too much,” he said, but Mòrag could see that he was smiling. No one else really took the time to give him genuine compliments. “Mor Ardain will be lucky if I can lead them successfully, but no sooner than that.”

“I’d say you’re doing a pretty good job for someone who hasn’t even reached the age of majority yet,” Mòrag pointed out. “Busy day ahead of you today?” It always was, for Niall. Even though he wasn’t eighteen yet, everything important in Mor Ardain still needed his attention. 

“Of course,” he said with a laugh. “Meeting with a diplomat from Tantal today about a trade agreement, having a meeting with the industrial council, and I have to talk to a judge about a nasty court case on defamatory comments. That one could get a bit sticky.”

“Oh, sounds lovely. Who got defamed?” 

“Me, as is the case with half of these trials. My council seems to think that suing everyone who publishes a rude article about me is a good way to win my favour.” Niall sighed. “I don’t much care anymore. I don’t suppose you feel like doing something especially scandalous, just to take their attention off of me for a bit?”

“Not particularly,” she said with a laugh. “You don’t do anything wrong, Niall. You’re fine. I suppose you should just make sure that the sentence doesn’t outweigh the crime and that it isn’t any more than the sentence would be for any other person.”

“I know. They’ve been teaching me to be a fair judge since I was five years old.” Mòrag found that pretty unfair, but that was Mor Ardain for you. In the absence of an adult emperor, just grab his still-a-toddler son and immediately start training him to be emperor. Ah, well. At least he’d turned out fine.

“Just offering my humble advice,” she said with a smile. “I know you know how to do it, but I don’t know. Sometimes it’s nice to have someone affirm that the way you go about things is the correct way.” 

“I know what you mean. And in case that’s what you’re looking for, I think you did the right thing in telling me about Brighid and yourself. I want to look into getting you proper legal recognition more, and perhaps assessing public opinion of this sort of thing.”

“Just do what you feel is best,” she said. “I’m always here to support you, Niall. No matter what.”


	3. Suggestion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An opportunity comes to propose something to the council.

As it turned out, a fairly good opportunity for ‘assessing public opinion’ cropped up only a week after Mòrag’s conversation with Niall. Jin and Malos, the two activists who were seemingly almost singlehandedly responsible for Tantal’s new marriage laws, had been caught on several tourists’ phones kissing in front of the Praetorium. Mòrag had never thought much of Amalthus, so seeing his horrified expression on a blurry phone video was really quite gratifying.

She shared it, and several laughs, with Brighid in private, but the whole time she was thinking about how other Ardainians were reacting. She was almost scared to check. Society had become a whole lot less religious even during her lifetime, but she was still concerned about the sway the Praetorium held here. This might even have turned people against same sex soulmates. 

To her pleasant surprise, though, the tide of public opinion seemed fairly in favour of Jin and Malos, at least. The video of their kiss had blown up on the internet, and Mòrag’s trawlings through the comments on articles from Ardainian sources were largely positive, or at least just amused. People seemed to like it when other defied authority like the Praetor’s.

It was certainly an optimistic experience. Maybe not enough for them to justify pushing laws through already, but Mòrag was happy it had happened. She could see this turning out just fine soon enough. Maybe not quite yet, but soon. The tide hadn’t turned rapidly like it had in Tantal just yet, but it was going to get there one day. It gave Mòrag hope.

She was walking through one of the castle gardens with Brighid when Niall approached her to talk about it. Apparently he couldn’t wait for their weekly breakfast together- he looked almost uncharacteristically excited. 

“You’ve seen the news, right?” He grinned. “I know I shouldn’t say this about the Praetor, but I found that video to be quite amusing.”

“They’ve certainly found a way to hit the headlines again,” Mòrag laughed. “It is funny, even if I’m sure he’s absolutely fuming about it. He hates bad press with a pattern and this makes him look rather like a terrible person.”

“Now may be a good time to speak to the council about some legislation to make things easier for people like you,” Niall mused. “After he’s been caught looking so angry in that video, it might help public opinion for him to be seen allied with a country who supports same sex rights.”

“That sounds like an idea,” Brighid said. “You should propose something, Mòrag. They can’t hurt you for a proposal like that at all. You don’t need to relate it to yourself personally; after all, it is current affairs.”

“I know,” Mòrag said with a smile. She wanted to propose something, and normally she was fairly eloquent in front of the council, out of necessity more than anything else, but she was still sort of apprehensive. This kind of thing was difficult.

“Brighid’s right,” Niall chimed in. “I’ll help, if you’d like. My support ought to go a long way towards getting this thing through the council. Although, you still might want to drum up some public support as well. Just in case someone shoots it down.”

“I’d rather wait on that,” she said. She didn't want to look like she was using her technically military position to rally political support for her own purposes. “I’d rather try and get it through on its own first, and then move for more if it turns out we need to.”

“Fair enough.” Niall seemed pleased with that, and so did Brighid. She hooked her arm through Mòrag’s, hesitating for just a moment before resting her head on Mòrag’s shoulder. Mòrag knew why was still a little hesitant- they were both so used to keeping this hidden from the world, it was strange to be able to show affection even around Niall. 

“You’ll be fine, Mòrag,” she said. “Your position is as safe as any of the other people in the council.”

-

“I wish to veto Special Inquisitor Ladair’s proposal.” Of course that was the first thing spoken after she even introduced the idea.

“No,” Niall said, from his position next to Mòrag at the head of the table. “This is a forum for discussion, not endless proposals and vetos due to minor disagreements.”

“So the emperor would seek to undermine the authority of his council?” 

“No. I would seek to implore my council to actually discuss the Special Inquisitor’s proposal before dismissing it.” Mòrag had no idea how Niall stayed so civil around these people. They were practically animals.

“It would be a disaster for continued foreign aid from Indol,” he said, seemingly resigning himself to actually discussing it. “Which, as I would hasten to remind Inquisitor Ladair, is vital for Mor Ardain’s continued prosperity.”

Mòrag couldn’t keep her mouth shut any longer. “The Praetor is currently in a position of public disgrace right now, Senator. I imagine that if we were to pass this reform, supporting us would be a boost to his popularity that he desperately needs right now,” 

“I have to concur that the Special Inquisitor is correct in this statement,” a different Senator said. “However, I still do not agree with the proposal. Just because something will endear the Praetorium towards us temporarily does not mean it will hold true in the long term.”

“Well, Praetor Amalthus would look pretty awful if he withdrew his support for us after two months,” Mòrag snapped. Niall nudged her, and she gritted her teeth. As much as she disliked the business of council, it would not help her case to get angry at them again. “One day, the Praetorium will have to relax its attitudes, as social ideas move on. We pride ourselves on being the most advanced nation in the world technologically, so why should we let ourselves lag behind in other areas?”

“Special Inquisitor, it seems to me that you are getting very involved with this debate. More so than usual, if I dare say. Is there anything you wish to reveal to the council?” Mòrag glared mutinously at a particularly slimy old nobleman who was currently smirking at her. 

“Any personal stake I could potentially have in this is irrelevant,” she said. She hated being so cool about this. She hated it so much, because this meant everything to her and she had to pretend it didn't. “I am in this position so I can use my experiences to benefit Mor Ardain as much as possible. That is my aim in this proposal.”

“Well. If His Highness and the Special Inquisitor would like to leave the room, the Council will debate this and we will pass on our final decision shortly.” Mòrag scowled, but she had no choice but to get up and follow Niall out of the council chamber. 

“They’re going to veto the damn thing anyway,” she grumbled when they were out of earshot. “What do we do?” 

“I cannot veto their veto after they’ve discussed it,” Niall said with a sigh. “We’ll have to leave it for a while, and try something else when it comes up. Either that, or you could try and muster popular support in some way. But of course that would put you at quite a lot of political risk and I don’t want to ask you to do it if you feel the risk outweighs the potential benefit.” 

“I’m quite honestly past the point of worrying too much about political risk. If they do veto the law, I’ll see what I can do with public opinion. Perhaps we’ll get lucky and there’ll be a revolution to overthrow the council.” She sighed. “I doubt that, though.”

“I’d rather one of my military officials doesn’t provoke a revolution,” Niall said with a chuckle. “Please don’t put yourself at too much risk. I know you can defend yourself, of course, but your safety is important to me. Don’t tell them to do what they see fit to get it passed and then find that our government has been brought out from under us.”

“I’ll be careful, I promise.” Mòrag rested a hand on his arm, and she would have said more, but the door to the council chamber opened again.

“We have a decision, if you’d like to hear it.” Mòrag did not particularly want to hear it, but she glanced at Niall and then followed him back into the room.

“Go ahead, tell us,” Niall said, waving his hand. 

“We have decided to veto the Special Inquisitor’s proposal. We also wish to conduct a probe into her personal affairs, as we suspect she may be attempting to use legal powers solely for her own gain.”

“I accept the former request but not the latter,” Niall said immediately. “I have placed my personal trust in Inquisitor Ladair. If that is not an adequate marker of her character then I am not sure you should be trusted with governing powers. I understand your concern, but the Special Inquisitor’s personal life is not yours to be worried about.”

Mòrag’s fists were tightly clenched, so much so that she could feel her fingernails digging into her own palms. Now was not the time for anger, but she really, really couldn’t take this any longer. “Fine. In the interest of complete transparency, the Lady Brighid is my soulmate,” she snapped. “But to suggest that I would do this solely for my own gain is frankly disgusting. Mor Ardain has thousands of citizens, and you are all fools if you think that this law would benefit none of them save for myself. This issue is close to my heart, but I am not the only one affected by it.

“Do as you wish with this information, but know that what I do, I do it for the good of all the people in Mor Ardain who hide themselves away, who are hurt by the selfish beliefs of a few. I am confident that the people you claim to represent will have very different views on this matter.”

Niall was staring at her, and she couldn’t tell what exactly he was thinking. Most of the council was staring at her too, and their expressions were a little easier to read. Mostly disgust and shock. No one said anything, not for a good thirty seconds. Mòrag was so tempted to just walk out.

“We will conduct a discussion on your actions and what should be done about this,” one of the senators said. “You may leave, Inquisitor Mòrag. Please consider that any subsequent actions will reflect on you and be taken into consideration when making a decision.”

She looked down at Niall. “I trust that you won’t let the council make too foolish of a decision, your highness.” He nodded, catching her hand to squeeze it for the briefest of moments before she strode out of the chamber. Ugh. They couldn’t really do much to her, she hoped. After all, she hadn’t broken any rules- she’d been accused of acting in her own interest, and she had fully explained the situation. There was nothing wrong with that.

Still, she couldn’t shake the sinking, awful feeling that she’d lost control of the situation along with her temper and now she’d pay for it. But she supposed the only thing to do was to wait and see.


	4. Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mòrag and Brighid go out into Alba Cavanich.

“Brighid,” Mòrag said, walking into their shared rooms. She knew she would have to explain what happened in the council meeting, but at the same time, she didn't want to. “Go on a date with me? Out somewhere. Where people can see.”

“What?” Brighid sat up, tucking her phone away. “Mòrag, what did you do?” 

“Can I explain later? I just need to get out somewhere with you.” Brighid, understanding as ever, wasted no time in scrambling off the bed she hadn’t actually slept on in years, and going to put on some shoes. “Let’s find a nice cafe somewhere, get something to drink. Or perhaps a walk in the park?”

“You sound like you need to go on a walk to clear your head,” Brighid said. “I’d suggest getting out of your uniform first, though. That stuff is always too stuffy to actually move properly in.”

Mòrag nodded, pulling off her jacket with the billion buttons and putting on something a little more casual. It was getting towards the late afternoon and it would almost definitely be dark before she got back, so it would be colder then, but she didn't need the huge coat. She took off her hat as well, even going so far as to pull her hair out of its tight braid. It was giving her a headache anyway. 

She took Brighid’s hand, leading her out of the castle and down towards the nearest open green space. At this time of day, it was populated mostly with teenagers fresh out of lessons, and tired parents trying to wear out their less-tired small children. Not ideal, but at least it was busy. People would see them here.

“Are you okay?” Brighid asked gently.

“They know,” Mòrag said. “They were being awful, as usual, but this was even worse, and I lost my cool exactly like I knew I shouldn’t and I told them. And now they’re reviewing whether I’m suited for my position. And on top of that, of course, they rejected the proposal.”

“I see.” Brighid let go of her hand in favour of putting an arm around her waist. “I know you better than anyone, and I know you were right to stand up for what you believe in. Perhaps you could have done it a little more quietly, but never mind. I’m sure this will work out alright.”

“I just...wanted it to be okay,” she said. “I thought that it might work out fine. I didn't think they’d be so stubborn as to hold on to their beliefs like this. I thought they’d accept that people think positively about change these days. But then again, all of them are four decades older than me, so maybe I shouldn’t have expected much.”

“Four decades is generous,” Brighid said with a soft laugh. “Try six. Do you actually think any of them are under eighty years old?” She had a point, Mòrag thought to herself. 

“True. I feel a little bad, but part of me hopes they all die off soon and get replaced by less obnoxious people. Perhaps even a woman or two.”

“Now there’s a concept,” Brighid said with a laugh. “Try not to fret about it, Mòrag. His Majesty knows how valuable you are to him, and they can’t remove you from the council without removing you from your position entirely. That would involve a military tribunal and you haven’t actually done anything wrong.”

“True. You’re very good at being rational, you know.” Brighid laughed at that, and leaned over for a kiss. Mòrag let her, ignoring the tingle of worry in her stomach at what people might think. A quick glance around revealed a few people looking in their direction, but no one looked overtly hostile.

“I wish this was less terrifying,” Mòrag said. She was surprised, honestly, at how easily Brighid was taking down all the cautious barriers they’d put up for so long. This seemed to come to naturally to her, just expressing affection in public. Mòrag was scared stiff.

“Just pretend you can’t see anyone else,” Brighid said. “Pretend it’s midnight and we’re the only people here, or that we’re disguised so no one knows who we are. There’s nothing illegal about showing a little affection. It’s alright.”

“But that’s not what the reality is,” Mòrag said. They weren’t here alone, and she was an immediately recognisable figure. Everyone could see them and she knew that this would get out pretty quickly. That was the idea, of course, but she was still afraid of it.

“Don’t worry about reality,” Brighid said firmly. “Focus on me, no one else.” That was something that Mòrag would happily do for the rest of her life, if such a thing was possible. She didn't say that, though, but she did find the courage to slip an arm around Brighid’s waist in return.

“Why couldn’t I have just been a man?” Mòrag asked quietly with a sigh. She was mistaken for one often enough anyway. “It would have been so much easier. We could have done this every day of our lives. Our relationship would be constantly celebrated.”

“It wouldn’t have been this relationship, though,” Brighid said gently. “You wouldn’t have been my Mòrag, and the dynamic between us would be different. We wouldn’t have that private understanding of each other that no one else knows. We wouldn’t be out here making this difference right now.”

“Mm… Thank you for not being angry with me. I didn't know how you would react to me telling the whole council about us, and I still wish I didn't have to drag you into this. If I could protect you from all of this, I would.” 

“You’re very sweet, as always, but I’ll be fine,” Brighid said. “I can handle myself, I promise.” Despite her assurance, though, Mòrag was still worried. Brighid was, officially, her advisor and scribe, of sorts. She helped Mòrag write letters and prepare for events. She didn't have military training, she wasn’t a public figure. She had an impressive array of self defence skills, and she knew how to shoot a gun, but that didn't stop Mòrag from worrying. 

“Alright,” she conceded. “But if this gets big, and people start trying to ask you too many questions, I’m getting you a publicity officer and a bodyguard who isn’t me. I don’t want you getting overwhelmed.” She was feeling a little better now. The anger and tension had melted away a little, and she knew that at some point it was going to be wisest to get back to the castle and deal with the fallout from her little speech.

“Mòrag, I will be fine,” Brighid said. “I’ve practically grown up here with you. I know how to handle myself around people. Especially stubborn people like you. These people are just stubborn in a different kind of way.”

“Stop being so right all the time,” Mòrag said with a smile. “Ah… I suppose we should head back to the castle soon. I reckon one park’s worth of staring people ought to be enough to get this news fairly well spread everywhere.” 

Brighid laughed. “If you’d wanted to just get it out there, we could have kissed on the public announcements balcony and got it over with.”

“This is more natural,” Mòrag said. “People don’t mind as much when it’s us out here. Making a big statement up there like that is a different matter.”

“I wonder how many pictures of us are on social media right now,” Brighid mused. She pulled her phone out, and Mòrag saw her wince. “I have twenty notifications so far. That’s not too bad, I suppose- ah, twenty one now. Twenty two. This may end up getting rather large…”

“I think we should head back,” Mòrag said with a laugh. She could only imagine how much her work phone was blowing up right now. “We can deal with this once we get home. For now, let’s keep this moment between the two of us.”

“Between the two of us,” Brighid agreed. She leaned in for another kiss, and Mòrag indulged her. This time, she definitely heard someone’s camera go off a little way in front of them. Never mind. She was past caring about who knew right now.


	5. Catalyst

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things progress in Mor Ardain and something goes very wrong.

Mòrag hadn’t been expecting this when she’d innocently kissed Brighid a couple of times in the park. Article after article in the news of multiple countries started to surface portraying Brighid as her ‘scandalous secret lover’, talking about their ‘shame’ and how terrible it was that they couldn’t get married. Someone in the council must have specifically revealed that Brighid was her soulmate rather than her girlfriend, or the press probably wouldn’t be saying these things quite like this. For her part, she had released a very clear and definitive statement on the matter, one that only just stopped short of telling everyone who thought she was ‘ashamed’ exactly where they could stick their badly written articles. 

The general public had been considerably kinder to her than the press. Most people seemed genuinely pleased that she was being open about her relationship, and the number of lunatics yelling about lesbian conspiracy theories was at a minimum. People seemed keen to support her, and there were lots of people telling conservatives to ‘wake up and start living in this century’.

Brighid, for one, was very optimistic. She’d really taken to being open about their relationship, taking Mòrag out almost every day and being affectionate, but not too affectionate. It was really nice to be able to live openly without hiding everything all the time, being careful even with her words when someone could potentially be in earshot.

If only the council shared the same opinion. Mòrag had found herself suspended since her speech to the council- apparently Niall had fought viciously against it, but even as emperor, he couldn’t override a council vote. If he was a couple of years older, maybe he could have done it, but she didn't think he would have. He had enough faith that she would be restored to her position that he didn't want to push the issue further than necessary.

Outside of being in the council, her duties remained. She still had to train new recruits and run different exercises with people. She had to protect Niall at events and be an advisor to him. This changed a little bit, because all the soldiers she worked with seemed to feel the need to voice their support to her. It was nice, she supposed, but it got a little old. You could tell who was genuine about it; there were a few that had taken to covering their soulmate marks with rainbow fabric instead of a simple wristband or something similar. Those weren’t strictly part of army uniform, but Mòrag couldn’t bring herself to discipline people for wearing them. She sort of wanted to ask where they were from so that she could get one herself.

It was nice. It was also sort of scary, because Mòrag had grown up in a world that hated people like her. They hated women with her kind of influence, they hated people whose soulmate was the same gender as them. And now the dynamics were changing, the atmosphere was changing, and public opinion was publically very different to how it had been only a handful of years before. It was amazing, but also jarring. She didn't know where she stood. On the side of change, of course, but what sort of a role was she supposed to play? She was a natural leader, but leading this sort of thing was a little different to bossing around the army. Every day, she found herself inundated with messages from people thanking her for her bravery, asking for her advice, and she barely knew what to say to half of them.

Brighid dealt with more of it than she did. She’d take Mòrag’s phone and scroll through any messages addressed to both of them and answer those. She was so patient, and so caring towards everyone. There were countless advice messages that Mòrag was ill-equipped to answer though. They wanted to know how to tell their parents, their family, how safe it was to act in public. Those were all such personal questions that Mòrag just didn't know how to respond to. She wasn’t used to this sort of attention. People like Jin and Malos over in Tantal had clearly been dealing with this sort of thing for a very long time, but activism was a completely different game to leading an army.

There were messages of hate, too. People who thought that, as a person in a high position, she should hold her tongue. People who thought she was wrong to love Brighid. People who thought she was pretending to love Brighid to make people like the imperial family more. All kinds of people who were all wrong. She was never sure whether to respond to these messages or not. Brighid told her not to, so she just ignored them, and tried as hard as she could to cope with everything that was being thrown her way. 

Still, it was impossible to say that this wasn’t affecting her. Part of her wished things could go back to how they had been, without the eyes of the world scrutinising her private life. Almost the worst thing was people saying they’d ‘known all along’, because what did that mean? How bad had she been at hiding their relationship? Were they just saying it to sound smart? Did it even matter if they’d known beforehand?

Brighid was, as ever, amazing and understanding when it came to all her doubts and fears. More than anything, it was her support that got Mòrag through the more difficult days when Niall spent most of the day in council meetings trying to keep things afloat without her. She’d make Mòrag sit on the sofa and just braid her hair, undo it, and then do it all again, over and over, just talking about nothing that actually mattered. It was relaxing, and it was exactly what she needed.

Waiting for the council to make a decision on her fate was one thing that even Brighid couldn’t help much with, though. She didn't want to be thrown off of the council- Niall needed her there, needed some support against the crowd of moody old men determined to keep Mor Ardain in the dark ages. And hell, what if they decided to take away her other duties, too? Or even have her arrested? Depending on what they ruled, they could do all of that. Abusing her position for personal gain was a crime due to her proximity to Niall.

Niall said that the discussions on her position were slow and arduous. Mostly, he said, because the members of the council couldn’t agree, and whenever they tried to push for anything too bad, he’d tell them no, and then the whole discussion would have to start all over again. She couldn’t see the situation getting resolved at all. 

So here she was, stuck in a strange sort of limbo where her life might end up going almost entirely back to normal, or she might end up on trial and thrown in prison for the next ten years or so. It was hell. She didn't know when it would end, and she didn't know how she was meant to just keep going when everything could change at the drop of a hat. She could be in the middle of a military operation and they could just judge her as unsuitable and pull her out immediately.

In the end, it turned out that what she’d thought was the worst possible outcome was pretty much what happened. She was in the training grounds with ten new recruits. Some of them had come over from Gormott and their Ardainian was absolutely atrocious, so she was carefully explaining the drills and the safety of everything to them, stretching her Gormotti to the absolute limit. And that was when the order came out to arrest her.

She didn't know what to do. She was surrounded by military men who were more loyal to her than some people who should be pensioners who were giving orders in a language the recruits barely understood. In a brief, fleeting moment, she considered resisting. It turned out that she didn't have to. 

“She’s done nothing wrong!” The shout was in Ardainian, but accented with Gormotti- it came from a young recruit she had just been helping perform a particularly complicated ceremonial drill. Mòrag turned to face the two men who had been sent to arrest her, arms folded. 

“I’m not threatening to start a revolution,” she said coolly. “But in this case, I think I may not have to threaten anything. Put me in a jail cell if you so wish, but I will not be in there for long.”

“Ma’am, I-” One of the two soldiers clearly wavered. “I- we- don’t want to arrest you, ma’am. Lady Brighid and you is none of my business and it isn’t even illegal. They said they’d arrest us if we refused, ma’am.”

“Well if you refuse to arrest me, and no one else here wants to, who’s going to?” She asked with a smile. This was completely going against everything she stood for, honestly. She valued correct procedures in law and order over a fair amount of things, and Brighid was going to absolutely kill her for this risk she was taking, but she wasn’t exactly going to insist that they arrest her. 

“I- no one, I suppose, ma’am.” The two soldiers glanced at each other. “Would you like us to escort you back inside?” Mòrag considered it. A good next step would be to confront the council, and a couple of men with ceremonial swords and less ceremonial guns would make for good defence in case anyone else tried to arrest her.

“No, I think I have a better idea,” she said with a smile. “I assume that the order for my arrest is allowed to be public knowledge?” The two soldiers nodded, and a ripple of excitement spread through the small crowd of people. “So how about we let the people of Mor Ardain know about the council decision, and ask them to judge it?”

“I’d say that would be fair,” one of the soldiers said. The Gormotti girl who had shouted in her defence a moment ago stepped forwards, looking almost excited.

“Special Inquisitor, may I have permission to go and tell the people?” 

“You may. In fact, all of you may. Make sure everyone is aware of this. Do not specifically tell anyone to protest, and I must impress upon you the importance of not letting anything turn violent, should the people decide of their own free will to contest the council’s decision.”

People started hurrying off in all directions, and chaos seemed to reign almost immediately. Mòrag tried not to feel pleased that all these people supported her and Brighid more than they supported the council, but it was difficult not to. “Excuse me, ma’am, would you like me to take you up to your rooms?” Someone asked.

“No thank you,” she said. “But if you could take a message to Lady Brighid then I would be very grateful. Please tell her to meet me out where she took me on Saturday; she’ll know where.” The soldier nodded. “And what’s your name, so I can remember?”

“Newt, ma’am,” the woman said, and after saluting she hurried off towards the palace, leaving Mòrag to pick her way through the crowd and make it to where she could safely talk to Brighid.

The park was surprisingly quiet, save for a couple of her new Gormotti recruits dashing across the grass towards the town. Mòrag sat down on a bench and pulled out her phone, quietly turning off the ‘find my phone’ feature so that no one at the castle would think to search for her that way. She didn't intend to stay away for long- just enough for the council to realise, hopefully, how big of a mistake they had made. Oh, and she had to send a text.

‘I’m fine, not arrested yet. Don’t tell the council I’m texting you. Stay safe, I love you’. She sent the message to Niall, and then tucked her phone into her pocket to wait for Brighid.


	6. Protest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The protest gathers momentum.

The crowd was...large. Mòrag honestly hadn’t anticipated it turning out this way. What had begun as a small thing, with a handful of soldiers telling people what was going on, seemed to have turned into a mass demonstration. Mòrag hadn’t seen this many people in the streets since Niall’s father’s funeral. Brighid had turned up barely ten minutes after Mòrag had sent a soldier to fetch her, slightly out of breath and thoughtfully carrying a more casual jacket for Mòrag to change into. 

In the hour since then, half of Mor Ardain seemed to have emerged onto the streets, a fair amount of them waving rainbow coloured things and throwing paint at the walls. In reality, the demonstration was likely no more than a thousand people, but still, that was a lot. They were here for her. Even if she was maybe dreading the fallout of people throwing paint everywhere.

“This is certainly an experience,” Brighid said. They were still sat in the park, just watching people go by. Mòrag didn't want to take the chance of venturing out and being recognised. She wasn’t sure what would happen if she did. There were a few people attempting to stop the protest, but they were more or less getting swept along with the crowd.

“It is indeed,” Mòrag agreed. “I am very glad to be sitting here and watching it from the park and not from a jail cell, though. The holding cells they have in the castle are practically medieval, and the nearest actual police station is miles away.”

“I hope things will be okay,” Brighid said. “Historically, mutinies don’t end all that well. People get hurt, figures of authority are toppled. Perhaps Mor Ardain will get the parliament that the council have been blocking for years.”

“Oh, that would be nice.” Actual democracy. Mòrag was sure that Niall wouldn’t mind a slight reduction of his own powers if it broke the chokehold that the ancient council had on this country. “We’ll see. I imagine the council are currently kicking themselves for letting me remain in charge of the army, because now their only way of stopping the protesters is completely loyal to me.”

“Their lesbian became too powerful,” Brighid said, and Mòrag nearly doubled over with laughter at the honestly very abrupt statement. It was such a strange phrase that it just...became funny.

“I suppose I did.”

“Mm. And now you’re so powerful that hundreds, possibly thousands of your fellow citizens have come to help you. It’s really quite impressive how influential you are. And also really quite attractive.” Brighid kissed her, and Mòrag smiled against her lips. She was nervous, yes, but she was also hopeful.

“You’re such a flatterer,” Mòrag said, leaning on Brighid’s shoulder. How could this moment feel so peaceful when everything around them was so loud and frantic? There were people everywhere, shouting and chanting, but sitting here next to Brighid was still a calm experience. 

“I am, but you deserve it,” Brighid said gently. “I have never known anyone so deserving of praise and flattery of you. You’re stunning enough to put the moon to shame, you know that? And certainly fierce enough to tame the sun, too.”

“Stoooop,” she said, unable to stop smiling like an idiot. This was meant to be a serious situation. She was technically a criminal who had just incited a mutiny. Niall was going to give her at least six disappointed glares for this. Yet here she was, with Brighid, like none of this was even happening. 

“I could definitely keep going, you know. And I think I will, once we’re somewhere more private. Once all of this has blown over.” She rested her head against Mòrag’s shoulder. “When do you think it’ll be safe to leave the park?”

“At some point soon, I hope,” she said. Though, looking at how things were gathering momentum, it was going to be a lot longer than that. She’d have to wait until the crowds dispersed, she imagined, and that all depended on how the council reacted. If they chose to delay, then they could be out here all night.

“If it’s not soon, I don’t mind sleeping on a cold park bench if it’s with you,” Brighid said.

“It won’t be cold if you’re with me,” Mòrag pointed out. “You’re practically a heater in human form. It’s wonderful…but we could just go and find an inn that will take us overnight. I’m sure, in all of this, we could even just go down from the city and stay the night at the port. It would be fine.”

“Always the practical one,” Brighid said, smiling. “Maybe we should check on the protest. See if things are calming down a little.” Even as she said it, though, the sound of voices only rose louder. There were still people streaming down the streets to the palace. 

“I think it’s doing the exact opposite of calming down…” Mòrag stood up, peering over the bushes surrounding the park to get a better look at the castle. Even from this distance, she could see that someone seemed to have thrown several buckets of coloured paint up the walls, forming a rough approximation of the rainbow flag. People seemed...worryingly prepared for this.

“That is going to be horrendous to clean up,” Brighid said, and Mòrag put her face in her hands. This wasn’t quite going the way she had wanted it to. She appreciated the support, but this was going to cost a lot of money and it didn't exactly make her look very good, just from association with these people. It did look pretty nice, though.

“Let’s just not think about the cleanup right now,” she grumbled. “I’m going to text Niall again and see what’s going on.” She pulled her phone out.

‘What are the council doing? I need an update so that I know when to come home.’

‘Not sure what’s going to happen right now.’ The response came several minutes later, probably as soon as Niall was able to get himself away. ‘The council are all for continuing the warrant for your arrest and expanding it to causing public disorder. They’re just trying to work out if it’s actually possible for them to do that or not.’

‘Tell them it’s not. Exert your authority here. Threaten to let the protesters into the castle if you have to.’ Maybe that wasn’t quite the best thing to do, but at the very least it would scare the council a little. Then again… ‘Actually, don’t do that. I don’t want you to be directly in harm’s way.’

‘I’ll try,’ came the response almost instantly. Then, ‘Stay safe. I won’t let them arrest you, I promise.’


	7. Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The protest comes to an end.

The protest lasted well into the evening. Just as Mòrag was resigning herself to a very long night, though, the crowds started to disperse. She pulled out her phone again, hurriedly typing out another message to Niall. ‘Protesters are breaking up. What’s going on??’

‘You’ve been reinstated,’ came the reply, ‘with a promise to discuss equal marriage proposals and an elected Alba Cavanich council. The council aren’t happy, but they knew that any less would mean they wouldn’t get the protestors to go away.’

‘I’m on my way home,’ she sent back, then showed her phone to Brighid to pass on the good news. She saw a smile spread over Brighid’s face, and she couldn’t keep herself from smiling either. They’d done this, and they’d won. 

Somehow, though, it didn't really feel like a victory. This wasn’t how she’d wanted it to go. People had rebelled against authority for her sake, and she’d sat on a bench. She’d had no say in what actually happened. Things had gone too far for her liking and she couldn’t go back and say she’d made a mistake. She didn't see what she could have done to make this go better, but she still felt bad.

“You’re smiling, but you don’t look as happy as I expected.” Of course, Brighid could tell immediately that something was wrong. “What is it?” 

“I...don’t feel like I did as much as I wanted to,” she said, shrugging. “Everyone else did it for me, and I sat on a bench hiding from people trying to arrest me. It’s silly, I know…”

“We’re not really hiding,” Brighid said gently. “If anyone had actually wanted to arrest you, they could have done it several times over. It wouldn’t have been difficult and you know you wouldn’t have been arrested. You just didn't want to get involved in case it made things worse. You did what you could, Mòrag.”

“I suppose.” She closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly. “You’re right. This is fine. I still think that things have perhaps gone a little too far, but that can be amended. I can talk to the council, even if they definitely don’t like me much now.”

“They didn't like you before,” she said. “They’ve never liked you. You represented everything they disliked, and now you represent it even more, and you’ve undermined their power by your actions. But even then, they brought it on themselves, and I’m sure they’re not stupid enough to deny that.”

“You know, I am rather looking forwards to being extra vindictive towards the council now.” That brought a proper smile to her lips. The thought of deeply offending some old men who disagreed with her was what finally got her to stand up, and she took Brighid’s hand and held it tight. “Perhaps I will kiss you on the castle balcony later…”

“I hate to restrain you like this,” Brighid said with a smile, “but I’m not sure you should do that. It might inflame matters again. Maybe wait until the council discuss and inevitably have to pass equal rights. Then you’ll have full excuse to kiss me up there.”

“Ach, I suppose so. Well, I’ll kiss you in private instead. I feel like we deserve a few hours to do exactly as much kissing as we want, after the day we’ve had.” Brighid didn't reply, just smiled and squeezed Mòrag’s hand. It was a comforting gesture, and one that was especially needed as they approached the castle. The thought of what might be waiting for them inside was a scary one, if Mòrag was honest with herself.

They stayed in silence as they went through the corridors, climbed the stairs, and went into their rooms. It was conspicuously quiet, considering what had just happened. Mòrag had been sure that there would be people all over the place, considering the mass movement that had been occurring only hours before. But there was barely anyone around, and no one moved to speak to them.

“It’s nice to see that we haven’t been arrested on sight,” Mòrag commented. “I know Niall said it wouldn’t happen, but a part of me still worried that someone was- I don’t know, forcing him to lie, perhaps?” She leaned against Brighid, utterly exhausted. “Where do you think Niall is? I’d like to at least talk to him this evening…”

“I don’t know,” Brighid said, pulling her over to the sofa. “Mòrag, I...please just sit still and stop worrying, even for a little while. I was really concerned about you today. Everything moved so fast and I was completely out of the loop. A woman came up to me, told you that your arrest had been ordered, and then told me where to go. Anything could have happened to you.”

“I’m sorry.” Mòrag shifted back, taking both of Brighid’s hands in her own. “I know I haven’t been the best to you today. This whole thing… Ever since the council found out about us, I’ve been so stressed. And you’ve been wonderful, I couldn’t have asked for anyone more helpful, but- I realise now, I’ve barely asked if you’re okay. If there’s anything I can do for you. So… Are you? Is there?”

“Just please tell me when things are happening,” she said. “Let me get involved. I know you want to protect me from the possible dangers of all these politics, but I want to be by your side. I can’t stand being left behind all day, not knowing if you’ll come back or if some plotter will stab you.”

“I promise not to get stabbed unless you’re there to get stabbed with me,” Mòrag said, and Brighid laughed and swatted her arm in a ‘be serious’ sort of way. “Alright. I’ll let you be at my side, whenever you want. I can promise you that. And, look- if you ever need me to sit and braid your hair and listen to you talk, I promise I’ll do that, too. Although I am nowhere near as good at braiding hair as you are, I’m afraid.”

“Thank you,” Brighid said. “You don’t need to braid my hair, though. I think my hair gets tangled enough on its own. Being by your side is by far enough for me. That’s all I want, and it’s all I’ve ever wanted. I’m frustrated about today, but we’ve definitely taken a big step closer to being at each other’s sides, openly, forever.”

**Author's Note:**

> Well, it's done, folks :) I understand that people are hesitant to comment if they feel they don't have much to say, but the lack of response to this fic was completely unexpected. Please tell me, at least, if it's mediocre or boring!!


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